Why is non-classroom education experience held in such low regard by employers in schools?
I am sure I am not the only person who has the majority of my professional education experience away from the standard classroom environment yet on return to the classroom school setting I have needed to drop to a beginning teacher status. I believe I am a better teacher having had real world experience and the diversity of my experience has certainly put the petty politics of the school staffroom into perspective.
I feel when I look at teachers who have spent their entire life in a school first as a student then straight into teaching and compare them with those who have had time in industry that they don't have the same perspective on what teachers need to achieve. We should be preparing students to function in society and professional environments predominantly away from school yet if you have no experience of life outside of school and professional meetings that are more than a gripe about the tea supplies and why one person is getting more release than another, how can they truly prepare students. Is this one of the reasons that education has a hard time evolving from it's industrialised construct? Although I may be exaggerating in part here I feel this is an area that might get us talking about the purpose of our work and in turn assist me in discovering why my career to date has no value in schools.
I feel when I look at teachers who have spent their entire life in a school first as a student then straight into teaching and compare them with those who have had time in industry that they don't have the same perspective on what teachers need to achieve. We should be preparing students to function in society and professional environments predominantly away from school yet if you have no experience of life outside of school and professional meetings that are more than a gripe about the tea supplies and why one person is getting more release than another, how can they truly prepare students. Is this one of the reasons that education has a hard time evolving from it's industrialised construct? Although I may be exaggerating in part here I feel this is an area that might get us talking about the purpose of our work and in turn assist me in discovering why my career to date has no value in schools.
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David Ball • There is nothing wrong with classroom learning. It is efficient and measurable with its problems being well studied. But it isn't the only type of learning. Education is lifelong and doesn't begin or end at school. Some people with industry experience are excellent teachers. Some aren't. Industry can create habits that are both good and bad. So can classroom teaching. Biofeedback from classroom teaching is strong. A bad teacher soon knows it. But good teachers don't always know it. Some elite schools hire young staff fresh out of university to train them the way they like them .. not conditioned to short hours and long holidays. But respectful of the rhythm of daily school life.
12 hours ago
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Janet Doyle • Too true David. I see many novices indoctrinated in the way of school. I do believe there is a place for this career path, but it would be nice if people with industry experience were occasionally considered. When I first graduated I did not have the substance to be a classroom teacher, I had struggled with studies and direction. When I studied for my masters I loved every second of studying and felt ready to give something incredible to school life, only to be rejected time and again.
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David Ball • I am in NSW, Australia .. getting work isn't hard for most of the year. It isn't really reliant on experience in the public school system. I have known people who started work in other professions to be quickly promoted .. but then things work well in good schools, and everything fails in dysfunctional schools.
